Dragon Age: Origins - Reviews Starting to Come

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Dragon Age: Origins - Reviews Starting to Come

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

Dragon Age: Origins releases this week. So we’re starting to get more and more reviews. Beyond that I’m trying to stay away from news a bit for fear of spoilers (already read a few big spoilers I wish I hadn’t seen). Even so there’s still a fair lot to link to; reviews, videos and more.

We’ll start off with a [url=http://pc-mmo.nowgamer.com/reviews/pc-m ... s:3pwh5n7l]review at NowGamer[/url:3pwh5n7l]. Giving the game a 9.4/10 it calls the game “the best fantasy RPG since Baldur’s Gate”. Here’s an excerpt:

[quote:3pwh5n7l]Dragon Age (and we find ourselves almost choking on our words as we say it) is a better game than this. The introduction has all the hallmarks of pre-KOTOR BioWare and even though the deceptively simple character creation system offers a minute fraction of the options that Neverwinter Nights boasted, the knowledge that a mere seven different race-class-caste combinations (not to mention gender) would completely change the way NPCs reacted to us and the course of the game, was cause for us to spend nearly as much time creating our Dwarf commoner.[/quote:3pwh5n7l]
Next is an article at BitMob titled “[url=http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/sex ... l:3pwh5n7l]Sex and the Single Dragon Age Hero[/url:3pwh5n7l]” and looks a bit at the romance options (for male characters). Obviously this spoils who those characters are, but doesn’t divulge much of their story (or that of the game) even if it does hint at what could be a big spoiler.

Here’s an excerpt:

[quote:3pwh5n7l]Aside from the mild titillation, though, sex does play a sometimes-interesting role in Dragon Age's narrative. It figures into the plot in a significant way that I won't spoil, and as you progress through the game you'll learn more about other members in your party via their particular attitudes towards sex.[/quote:3pwh5n7l]
It should be noted that some of the BioWare writers have come out after this article stating that [i:3pwh5n7l]all[/i:3pwh5n7l] characters will sooner or later have the ‘monogamous’ dialog, just that different romances advance at different speeds. But the basic structure for all the romances is exactly the same.

If you mind spoilers regarding who the romanceable characters are then it’s best to skip this paragraph. The main interesting point of the article though was that it confirmed that Zevran is the homosexual romance option (for male characters). Since then it has also been confirmed that Leliana is the homosexual romance option for female characters (with Zevran and Alistair the heterosexual ones as Morrigan and Leliana are for male characters).

Over at Fidgit Tom Chick is keeping a [url=http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/drag ... p:3pwh5n7l]Dragon Age Game Diary[/url:3pwh5n7l] ([url=http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/drag ... p:3pwh5n7l]page 2[/url:3pwh5n7l], [url=http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/drag ... p:3pwh5n7l]page 3[/url:3pwh5n7l], [url=http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/drag ... p:3pwh5n7l]page 4[/url:3pwh5n7l]. As of this writing he has published four entries so far and they’re all (so far) spoiler-free and an enjoyable read. I won’t post excerpts from every entry, but here’s one from the first page:

[quote:3pwh5n7l]I had intended to play [i:3pwh5n7l]Dragon Age[/i:3pwh5n7l] on a PC for a couple of reasons. Partly because I'd like to be able to take my own screenshots to post for this series of game diaries. Partly because the PC version looks better. Partly because you can zoom out farther during battles, playing them like a strategy game rather than a close-in pausable action game. But mostly because I tried to play [i:3pwh5n7l]Mass Effect[/i:3pwh5n7l], Bioware's last RPG, on a console system and eventually got fed up with the interface. I didn't want that to happen in [i:3pwh5n7l]Dragon Age[/i:3pwh5n7l]. So when the Xbox 360 version showed up, I had a tough choice to make.[/quote:3pwh5n7l]
If you speak German then you might be interested in the [url=http://www.dragonage-magazine.com/:3pwh5n7l]official online Dragon Age magazine[/url:3pwh5n7l]. I haven’t read it (since my German isn’t that great) so no idea how many spoilers there are in it, but it looks quite well put together. Makes one wish that English marketing would do something similar. Ah well.

Alright, time for some movies. GameSpot has four gameplay movies up. I don’t think that these spoil much of anything. These movies look to be on the PC (from what I recall):

[center:3pwh5n7l][html]<embed id="mymovie" width="432" height="362" flashvars="playerMode=embedded&movieAspect=4.3&flavor=EmbeddedPlayerVersion&skin=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... t%3D362%2F" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... oteus2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>
<br /><br />
<embed id="mymovie" width="432" height="362" flashvars="playerMode=embedded&movieAspect=4.3&flavor=EmbeddedPlayerVersion&skin=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... t%3D362%2F" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... oteus2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>
<br /><br />
<embed id="mymovie" width="432" height="362" flashvars="playerMode=embedded&movieAspect=4.3&flavor=EmbeddedPlayerVersion&skin=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... t%3D362%2F" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... oteus2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>
<br /><br />
<embed id="mymovie" width="432" height="362" flashvars="playerMode=embedded&movieAspect=4.3&flavor=EmbeddedPlayerVersion&skin=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... t%3D362%2F" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... oteus2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>[/html][/center:3pwh5n7l]
The Polish site Polygamia has a couple of interviews, from the look of it taken during the Warden’s Quest event. The [url=http://polygamia.pl/Polygamia/1,101109, ... l:3pwh5n7l]first is with Mike Laidlaw[/url:3pwh5n7l]; note that the article is both in Polish and in English with the English version in a column on the right. Here’s an excerpt:

[quote:3pwh5n7l][i:3pwh5n7l]How did you like Wardens' Quest? Did it go as planned?[/i:3pwh5n7l]

The funny thing about these events is that it was a lot of fun and amazing to do, but they never go as planned. No battle plan ever survives the contact with the enemy. But the tech team here is simply amazing, the guys can fix virtually everything. And the players are getting really enthused, clearly having a good time. It lifts the spirit.[/quote:3pwh5n7l]
And the [url=http://polygamia.pl/Polygamia/1,101109, ... l:3pwh5n7l]second one is with Fernando Melo[/url:3pwh5n7l]:

[quote:3pwh5n7l][i:3pwh5n7l]What do you think are the biggest advantages of having the social site?[/i:3pwh5n7l]

The biggest advantage is that we can bring it all together as a single community, whereas, for example, with Neverwinter Nights before, we had great websites for modders, builders, but most of that was actually placed outside of our own websites and it fragmented the community. I think nowadays we can get all of that under a single umbrella, we can connect players a lot more with modders, and create much better ties between those, we can actually help modders find other modders as well, to create better content. We also have a lot of data that is going to be uploaded from the game to the social site. It's also a way for us to tell interesting stories that people are going to experience as they play the game. So one of the things is being able to share all the interesting little side quests and other things you discover. It's an absolutely huge game, so having people be able to explore all the little things that your friends have been doing, even if you've been to the same area, you could have completely missed things that they had discovered.[/quote:3pwh5n7l]
I think the first big site to have a review up is [url=http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/104/1040 ... l:3pwh5n7l]IGN with their Australian review[/url:3pwh5n7l]. The review seems fairly positive, but not quite as positive as most of the other reviews I’ve seen so far have been. And considering some of the errors in it (like linking the end of Baldur’s Gate to Black Isle closing down) and with the tone of “we really want Baldur’s Gate 3 instead” in the article I’m not entirely sure what to make of it (personally I don’t want a Baldur’s Gate 3 as the Baldur’s Gate story was neatly finished with Throne of Bhaal and a new game has a high chance of tarnishing what is an otherwise great series). Even so they give the game an 8.4/10. IGN UK and IGN US will likely have their reviews in due time as well. Here’s an excerpt:

[quote:3pwh5n7l]The structure of this game hinges around these dialogue decisions. You really need to pay attention to subtext, which we found surprising; frankly, while Dragon Age: Origins lacks Mass Effect's radial, chained-together dialogue, it makes up for old-world clunk with equally good old-fashioned storytelling devices.

Your actions also have as much impact on how your party members view you to make you double-think which quests you undertake and how that might affect the end-game. If you're pursuing the love of the dark-eyed shape-shifting mage, Morrigan, it's best not to come across as a goody-two-shoes. Of course, choosing not to help Timmy the little orphan might well alienate your other party members – and thus, your actions begin to have tangible consequences.[/quote:3pwh5n7l]
The site Just Push Start has a video of [url=http://www.justpushstart.com/2009/11/02 ... /:3pwh5n7l]the first nine minutes[/url:3pwh5n7l] of the game (with the Human Noble origin and on the Xbox360 from what I can tell). It’s really nothing more than the opening cinematic, character creation, and the interactive cinematic that starts off the Human Noble origin. Can be nice if you’re needing a fix, but honestly there’s not much gameplay or stuff we haven’t already seen there. Oh, and they call it the first ten minutes, but the video clearly shows that it’s “8:57” in length, so closer to nine minutes. :p

And finally Gamespot has [url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage ... 1:3pwh5n7l]a movie of the Warden’s Quest event[/url:3pwh5n7l], interviewing the developers, team UK, and showing a bit of the event (including the winner at the end):

[center:3pwh5n7l][html]<embed id="mymovie" width="432" height="362" flashvars="playerMode=embedded&movieAspect=4.3&flavor=EmbeddedPlayerVersion&skin=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... t%3D362%2F" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... oteus2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>[/html][/center:3pwh5n7l]
Oh, and speaking of reviews, some print magazines have published their reviews as well. Bought the first one up a week ago and the second this weekend. PC Gamer UK gave the game 94% if memory serves, calling it the RPG of the decade. And PC Zone UK gave it 93% and were similarly enthusiastic about it (which is partly what I meant when I said that the IGN AU review was surprisingly low compared to the other reviews I’ve seen). Of course, since they’re print magazines I can’t link them here. But if you’re in the UK you can pick them up to read the articles. And I’m sure other countries (will) have their print magazine reviews as well (in time).

For the rest Steam has started their pre-loading and as such I’ve already downloaded Dragon Age; I just can’t play it yet until they unlock it for me this Friday (tomorrow for those lucky people in NA). I think that the EA Store and Direct2Drive are similarly offering pre-loading, though there were some delays with D2D last I heard.

I’ll keep you updated on the news, but don’t expect to hear from me much next week (as I’ve taken the week off to immerse myself in Dragon Age: Origins). ;)


[[url=http://pc-mmo.nowgamer.com/reviews/pc-m ... s:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to review at NowGamer.
[[url=http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/sex ... l:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to “Sex and the Single Dragon Age Hero” at BitMob.
[[url=http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/drag ... p:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to first page of game diary at Fidgit.
[[url=http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/drag ... p:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to second page of game diary at Fidgit.
[[url=http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/drag ... p:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to third page of game diary at Fidgit.
[[url=http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/10/drag ... p:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to fourth page of game diary at Fidgit.
[[url=http://www.dragonage-magazine.com/:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to German Dragon Age magazine.
[[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage ... e:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to Giant Spiders gameplay movie at GameSpot.
[[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage ... 4:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to Elder Tree gameplay movie at GameSpot.
[[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage ... 5:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to Angry Dragon gameplay movie at GameSpot.
[[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage ... 7:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to Trap gameplay movie at GameSpot.
[[url=http://polygamia.pl/Polygamia/1,101109, ... l:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to interview with Mike Laidlaw at Polygamia.
[[url=http://polygamia.pl/Polygamia/1,101109, ... l:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to interview with Fernando Melo at Polygamia.
[[url=http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/104/1040 ... l:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to AU review at IGN.
[[url=http://www.justpushstart.com/2009/11/02 ... /:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to first nine minutes at Just Push Start.
[[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonage ... 1:3pwh5n7l]link[/url:3pwh5n7l]] to Warden’s Quest event movie at GameSpot.


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Post by Rixxen Bladedleaf »

I'll have my own review by the end of the week, I'm soo stoked about this game.
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Shir'le E. Illios
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Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

[quote="Rixxen Bladedleaf":3fdqdo6s]I'll have my own review by the end of the week, I'm soo stoked about this game.[/quote:3fdqdo6s]
I'll look forward to reading it. :)


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